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IN THIS ISSUE:
- GEO: A Year in Review
- Member of the Month: Alex Reussing
- Referendum Results
- GEO Elections
- GEO Appreciates Outstanding GSIs
GEO: A YEAR IN REVIEW
Dear members,
This year has certainly been busy for GEO! We’ve managed to accomplish many things and have had considerable success in building the strength of our union. To end a year on a positive note, and to thank our members, we’ve included a list of some of our successes below. It has been an honor to serve GEO, and we look forward to seeing new faces, new efforts, and a new contract next year.
Solidarity,
Your GEO Officers
Mike Bader, Sociology
Zakiya Luna, Sociology & Women’s Studies
Shanna Kirschner, Political Science
Helen Ho, Communication Studies
Julie Robert, Romance Languages
Federico Helfgott, Anthropology & History
Kiara Vigil, American Culture
Colleen Woods, History
BENEFITS
• We are one of the most proactive locals in the country pushing forward in the struggle for TBLG equality and have moved the state and national discussion on this issue forward. We’ve also been acknowledged as a strong (and organized!) force here at the university.
• GEO launched the Benefits for All campaign, and our Designated Beneficiaries plan has been acknowledged by the university and has served as a starting point for discussions.
• LEO has presented the plan at the bargaining table and others have asked for our language for their own contracts.
GEO CHANGES
• Constitutional referendum vote: Votes came in from half (600+) our membership. These changes are long-overdue, and we thank all who helped: those who wrote the language for constitutional changes, researched and revised the dues structure, and organized members to vote.
• Thanks to the referendum vote, we can change our dues structure and afford
to pay dues to our parent unions, as well as remain financially viable.
• GEO’s steward council has grown to include about 23 members, who represent 19 departments on campus. Many of these stewards have been officially elected by their departments in GEO’s new effort to expand department involvement.
• We’ve had great organizing efforts and turnout at events.
ELECTIONS & POLITICAL ACTION
• We have furthered our relationship(s) with our Regents and many of our AFT-endorsed candidates were elected in the fall. Julia Darlowe came to speak at our Fall membership meeting.
• We raised over $800 to defend affirmative action at a fundraiser that had over 100 attendees.
• GEO was a main location for the “No on Prop 2†phonebank efforts in Ann Arbor.
GRIEVANCE WINS & CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT
• One of our members, who was denied employment due to poor posting practices, received an $11,000 tuition reimbursement.
• Some members received retroactive health care and reimbursement for prescription drugs (one case won over $400), after health care was denied
• Due to special conferences
and discussions with departments, we have eliminated many delays in processing appointments and have increased equity in the hiring of Graduate Student Mentors.
• Grievant Anna Perricci was ensured employment in hiring department Art & Design.
COMMUNICATIONS
• 1,500 academic planners were printed for our members, and laminated covers have ensured that they last the entire year.
• Six monthly newsletters have been provided for our members, in print and online at umgeo.org.
• Our web site has been renovated and made more accessible for members, with information easier to find.
• GEO buttons have been fun to make, give, and receive.
SOLIDARITY
• AFT-Michigan adopted a resolution passed by some GEO members, which calls for other unions to push for transgender inclusive health care in their contracts.
• GEO hosted over 30 graduate employee leaders from graduate unions throughout the county at the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL) conference in Spring.
• In Fall 2006, GEO members went to Wayne State to support the union efforts of part-time faculty. By February, they had organized enough part-time faculty members (75%) to file for an election with the state labor relations board.
• In Winter 2007, several GEO members traveled to Detroit to assist in the organizing efforts of UNITE HERE, a union that represents service workers in hotels, airports, and restaurants, as well as apparel manufacturers, retail outlets, and laundries.
• GEO has sent delegates to a number of union coalition meetings, such as the Michigan Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals, the American Federation of Teachers’ Higher Education conference, the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions, and AGEL.
MEMBER OF THE MONTH
Alex Reusing, Anthropology
How are you involved in GEO? I’m on the Organizing Committee, and I’m pretty involved within the anthropology department, almost like a second steward.
What has GEO done for you? Like most GSI’s I benefit from our great salary and benefits. Probably the greatest benefit of being a part of GEO is the community of activists, artists, and scholars that I can now call my friends and comrades. I’ve never met people like the ones in GEO.
What would you like to see in GEO’s next contract? While their is more we can do for the average GSI, one of our biggest priorities has to be enlarging the circle of people
we represent and protect; this is a particular problem in some of the professional schools. We need to try to eliminate the gaps in coverage for those moving between fellowship and teaching. However, the biggest thing is Benefits for All. My opinion is that we need health care not only for ALL our partners, but also for those other important relationships that don’t fit under the normative “nuclear family.â€
What’s the best thing you’ve seen GEO do this year? From the fight against Prop 2 and the constitutional referendum, to the Benefits for All campaign, members in GEO have been fighting harder this year than I’ve ever seen people fight. I think that these struggles have begun to prepare us for bargaining next year, both in terms of producing many aware and conscientious members. Most importantly, I think we’ve had some great conversations about leadership and governance as a result of these issues.
Referendum Results
Question One: I approve the DUES BYLAW proposed by the GEO membership at the January 25, 2007 meeting.
YES: 582
NO: 34
Abstaining: 2
Question Two: I approve the CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS proposed by the GEO membership at the January 25, 2007 meeting.
YES: 600
NO:12
Abstaining: 6
GEO Elections
President • Vice President • Treasurer • Secretary • Bargaining Chair Communications Chair • Grievance Chair • Organizing Chair • Solidarity and Political Action Chair
Nominations for GEO officer elections close at noon on Tuesday, April 10. Nominee statements will be posted on the GEO web site at umgeo.org.
Elections for new officers will be held on Tuesday, April 17, at 7 pm in the GEO office. All dues paying members are eligible to vote and are welcome to be at the meeting.
Anxious about the results? Check back at umgeo.org after April 17!
GEO APPRECIATES OUTSTANDING GSIs
The following GEO members were honored by Rackham as 2007 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructors. These awards are designed to honor GSIs who have demonstrated exceptional ability and creativity as teachers; continuous growth as teachers; service as outstanding mentors and advisors to their students, colleagues and others in need of their help; and growth as scholars in the course of their graduate programs. Congratulations!
WINTER 2007 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Awards
David Dick, Philosophy
Eva-Marie Dubuisson, Anthropology
Paul Feigenbaum, English and Education
Annemarie Hindman, Education and Psychology
Peter Lawless, History
Silvia Marchetti, Romance Languages & Literatures
Krista McGuire, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Kari Neely, Near Eastern Studies
Lee Newman, Psychology
Tamara (Tammy) Shreiner, Education
Khuram Siddiqui, Political Science
Jason Taylor, Natural Resources and Environment
Amanda Zellmer, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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